WASHINGTON - The wealthy donors who have poured millions into
groups supporting the Republican effort to retake Congress include
several Texans who are go-to donors for every election.

But one donor from Dallas is a new entrant to this exclusive
club of politically active billionaires: Trevor Rees-Jones.

A former attorney who went into the energy business and made a
fortune in the Barnett Shale, Rees-Jones and his wife have given
$3.5 million in the current election cycle to federal and state
causes - all on the Republican side.

Campaign-finance watchdogs say Rees-Jones wasn't on their radar
before he donated $2 million this year to American Crossroads, an
independent group raising money with the help of Republican
strategist Karl Rove. That's because until 2008, Rees-Jones had
donated less than $20,000 to federal candidates, and just $54,000
to state candidates.

"He expects to get something for his money, meaning he wants
change," said T. Boone Pickens, the Dallas energy investor who has
been a major contributor to Republicans in the past.

"We have some change now," Pickens said. "But if Republicans can
get back in, maybe they can make it better than it is. It's not too
good right now."

Early donor

Rees-Jones was an early donor to American Crossroads, which has
so far raised at least $22.6 million. With Rove and former
Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie helping to
raise money, Texas has been fertile fundraising territory for the
political action committee.

A related entity, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, has
raised more than $30 million. Unlike American Crossroads, donations
to Crossroads GPS are not publicly disclosed.

The bulk of American Crossroads' spending has gone toward
mailings and TV ads attacking Democratic congressional candidates
and supporting Republicans. In Texas, the group has spent about
$164,000 on TV ads opposing U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco.

Other Texas donors have given more than Rees-Jones, including
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, who has contributed $7 million to
American Crossroads.

Dallas' Robert Rowling and his diversified holding company, TRT
Holdings Inc., have together given $4.8 million to Crossroads,
according to data from the Federal Election Commission. Two
companies led by Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons have given $2
million.

Pickens, who has been working with Democratic leaders to pass an
energy bill, said he declined a recent overture from Rove to
contribute to the group. Pickens said he had promised Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that he'd stay out of the
election as long as lawmakers worked with him on energy
legislation.

Rees-Jones, 59, declined to comment about his political giving.
But people who know him offered various reasons for his sudden
involvement in campaigns, including a partisan loyalty to
Republicans and ties to Rove and other associates of former
President George W. Bush.

"Many individuals have been terrified at what they have seen
this Congress and this administration do in the last two years, and
they genuinely believe they are fighting for the survival of the
country," said Jim Francis, a Republican operative and fundraiser
in Dallas.

"I think he fits in the same category of feeling horrified at
what he has seen in the last two years," Francis said.

Francis, who was at Highland Park High School with Rees-Jones,
said that "by nature" Rees-Jones has not been politically active.
He became active as a donor shortly after selling the assets of
Chief Oil & Gas for $2.6 billion to Devon Energy and Crosstex
Energy Services in 2006.

That bonanza boosted Rees-Jones' reputation among Texas
Republicans, who view him as "a modern legend" because of his
wildcatting success in the Barnett Shale, said state Rep. Dan
Branch, R-Dallas.

The sale allowed Rees-Jones and his wife to establish a $290
million foundation that contributed $10 million to Dallas' Museum
of Nature & Science. In addition, Rees-Jones, a former Eagle
Scout, recently announced a $25 million gift to the Circle Ten
Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Lawsuit reform

At the state level, Rees-Jones has given generously this year to
several GOP-aligned groups, including $250,000 to Texans for
Lawsuit Reform, a group that advocates limits on lawsuit
awards.

He gave $150,000 to Associated Republicans of Texas, a group
that works to preserve the GOP majority in the Texas Legislature,
as well as $100,000 to the re-election effort of Gov. Rick
Perry.

Several people who know Rees-Jones said they don't think he has
a particular agenda beyond electing pro-business Republicans. Chief
Oil & Gas has never hired its own lobbyist in Washington,
according to House lobbying records.

At a recent conference on natural gas at the George W. Bush
Presidential Center, Rees-Jones talked about Chief's efforts to
work with landowners whose property is needed for drilling. But he
stayed away from political subjects such as environmental
regulation.

"You are looking at a guy who is financially powerful and he's a
smart guy, and you're lucky to have those kinds of people
involved," Pickens said.